Uyanga Erdenebold was born in Mongolia with sight, but due to a degenerative eye condition, was blind by the time she was 20.  

 

In 2007 she became the first blind Mongolian to be awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to study at a university in the U.S., where she completed her graduate studies in Library and Information Science at the Louisiana State University. 

 

Now, Uyanga is a public relations and diplomacy professional with over nine years of experience working for the U.S. Department of State and in nonprofit NGOs.

 

Currently, she serves as an executive board member for the Council on Diversity and Inclusion at the U.S. Embassy in Japan, and she spoke with RNIB Connect Radio's Paulina Kuchorew all the way over from Tokyo.